The Chocobos of Midgar
by Sienna Alexanderson
Summary: Chocobos weren't always the giant yellow chickens they are today. Amongst the timeline of FFVII, Reno is beginning to understand what chocobos are really capable of...
1. Meeting

**A/N:** Hey! Sienna here! Here marks the beginning of another story of mine, one that I've had planned out forever and have not yet finished. It's mosty supposed to be Reno-centric, but I'll tell you that there is a pretty main OC. But I kinda needed her for the story to work out right. Anyway, please read and tell me what you think so far!

_Disclaimer_: Nope, I don't own Reno or any other Final Fantasy VII character/place/etc. My idea on the chocobos is my own (you'll see in later chapters), as well as Sienna and other minor rolls. But sadly, I don't make money off of any of this - it's all Square's!

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**The Chocobos of Midgar  
**_ -by Sienna Alexanderson _

Sixty-three… Sixty-four…

Reno tapped his foot impatiently, looking out of the glass elevator. How many floors did this place have again? Seventy? Eighty? One-thousand?

Well, it certainly _felt_ like a thousand. Especially since he didn't have anyone to talk to. No beautiful women…

…Sixty-eight… Sixty-nine…_'Almost there!'_ Ding!

"Finally! They really need to install a faster elevator." Dashing out the doors as they creaked open, Reno ran right into Elena, knocking the blonde onto the pale linoleum floor.

She gave him a death glare, standing and fixing her blue Turk uniform. "Reno, watch where you're going!" With quick sweeps, she dusted off the dark blue fabric. "Aren't you still supposed to be in 'critical condition'?"

A grin swept over the red-head's face. "Oh yeah, I'm as in as critical condition as they get!" He flexed his muscles and looked around the large, dull, gray room, then back at his colleague, who had already begun towards the Turks' office. "Hey! Wait up!"

With a few steps he fell in stride with her, only to gain another death glare. Reno rolled his eyes and rested his hands behind his head as he walked. "Well aren't we chipper this morning?"

"Shut up, Reno."

With a shrug, Reno turned towards the blank office door. The lighting in the room made it appear bleak and rather unwelcoming. _'Man, they really need to invest in some better lighting, or maybe even some windows. And fix those stupid elevators'._ In Reno's opinion, the whole place needed a make-over. On a sudden thought, he dropped his arms to his sides and looked over at Elena, who had reached to swipe her keycard for entrance. "Hey… how did you get up here faster than me, anyway? It's not like it's any quicker to take the stairs. And that freakin' elevator…"

The blonde sighed, slipping her keycard back into her pocket. And she thought today was going to be a _good_ day. "Shut up, Reno. Just… Shut. Up."

With a casual shrug, Reno followed her into the office. Rude stood next to the door, face expressionless as always. Reno gave him a grin and a thumbs up as he passed by; the only sign of recognition Reno received from his friend was a slight nod and the barely visible tilt of the corner of his mouth. On the long cream sofa sat Elena, fidgeting with her hair as she looked expectantly at the doorway. No doubt nervous over the thought of seeing Tseng again, Reno thought. Hopefully she'd be able to keep her mouth shut this time. She'd only been with the Turks for a short time and she had already slipped out information to AVALANCHE that she shouldn't have.

Reno sat on the other end of the couch, leaning comfortably back with his legs spread out, dark brown shoes resting at ease on the coffee table in front of him. He didn't know what Rude saw in that girl. Heck, the only thing he saw was a good target to annoy. A grin broke out on his face. It seemed as though he'd already done a good job to irritate her today, and it was only morning.

Reno faked a yawn, "Another boring day working for Shinra."

Elena glared at him, but Rude only rolled his eyes at the remark.

"Reno. You should learn to think twice about what comes out of that mouth of yours and where."

Recognizing Tseng's solid voice, Reno brushed the warning off as though it were an annoying little mosquito. "Why? It's not like you, Rude, or Elena really care about…"

"Well, they may not care, but someone else might."

Reno sat bolt upright. "Ruf… ah, I mean, Mr. President!" He turned his blue eyes over towards the blonde President, who stood with no sign of emotion on his pale features. Scratching the back of his head, Reno relaxed back against the plush sofa. "It's nice to see you, sir. How was your trip?"

Tseng sighed and dropped a large file on the center coffee table, causing Elena to jump. Reno simply shrugged and turned towards the file, grin still plastered on his face.

Offering one of the plush chairs to the President, Tseng nodded and sat in an identical one next to it. It was tattered and torn, but comfortable nonetheless. Not like looks really mattered all that much to the Turks. He let his gaze sweep over the other two Turks and then set on Reno for a brief warning second before letting it settle on nothing in particular. "The President is here to give you a briefing on an important assignment, so pay close attention."

Reno caught the implied warning and settled into a state of seriousness, one that he rarely used but had perfected for just such an occasion.

A frown crossed Elena's face. "_Another _assignment? Aren't we still after AVALANCHE? And Sephiroth?" she asked with a hint of worry. Chasing after that resistance group was already taking up a lot of her time and energy, especially since Reno was still considered to be recovering and hadn't been able to help for a while. What ever made her think being a Turk was going to be easy? Maybe it was because Tseng made it _look_ so easy. She looked expectantly at him, as though he held all the answers in the world.

The black-haired Wutaian Turk merely ignored her pointed question, and gazed blankly at the almost bare walls of the office lounge. He simply motioned with his hand towards the blue-eyed young man next to him, who had already picked the huge file up off the table and was pulling something out of it. The stack of sheets in Rufus' hand looked like any other personal file held in the Shinra building; it was a stark black and white document similar to the ones filed on each Shinra employee and other figures of importance.

Rufus stood up with an air of authority, pushed aside a lock of his golden hair, and looked straight at Elena. "Yes. You are still to follow orders concerning the terrorist group AVALANCHE. This assignment," he motioned to the papers in his hand, "is mostly for Reno, since he is currently incapable of dealing with them…"

The flashy grin returned to Reno's face as he ignored the snide implication in the President's words. "Aw, for me? You shouldn't have."

The President merely snorted at the comment and continued, "Elena and Rude are to back him up if he has any troubles. Understood?"

Elena quickly nodded, "Yes, Mr. President!"

Rude's voice came from his spot near the door. "Yes, sir."

"Okay, so… what am I supposed to do?" For once, Reno's curiosity was getting the better of him. What was it that Rufus, the new President of Shinra Inc., had that was more important right now than finding Sephiroth and AVALANCHE?

Rufus turned to Reno and handed him the file in his hands. "You are to watch and guard this girl and make sure she does what she has been told to do. I need her knowledge and skills." He looked pointedly at Reno with his frosty-blue gaze. "I will have Tseng fill you in more as the necessity arises. "

"So I have to baby sit?" Reno took the papers without even glancing at them, his excitement and curiosity waning. "Hmph. How hard can this be?"

"There are more copies of her file in the folder on the table for Rude and Elena." Rufus stated, walking purposefully towards the door. He glanced over his shoulder at the young Turks. "And no funny stuff, Reno. Don't mess up." With that he strode purposefully out the door.

"Yeah, right, no funny stuff." Reno snorted derisively and rolled his eyes. "What the heck is this all about, Tseng?"

At that moment Tseng was handing the extra copies to Rude and Elena, along with the updated news on the actions of AVALANCHE. He glanced over his shoulder at Reno, "Go see for yourself. She's waiting in your office. Come back and see me in a little while and we'll discuss the particulars." Reno nodded his head, wondering what kind of situation he would be in this time, and turned towards the office doors. "Oh, and Reno… don't forget to actually _read _the file. We don't need you screwing up like last time."

Reno growled under his breath. "Yes, Tseng." Why the heck did he always get stuck with the dumb jobs? He looked at the first line of the file as he walked into the inner hall. Words littered the page, from basic facts to family backgrounds. It's not that Reno didn't like to read, it was just that these files tended to be so dry. Hmph, well at least it wasn't another one of those specimen reports from Hojo - those things were creepy. He glanced at the girl's name as he reached his office door. "Sienna Alexanderson, huh? Oh! And she's my age, too!"

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A young woman sat nervously waiting in one of the side offices of the large Shinra Inc. building, looking around at the dull room. She wished she hadn't agreed to this. But her foster parents had looked so happy when they found out that she had been summoned by the President Rufus himself. She sighed. They lived on the upper plate, so they had never seen the wrongs that Shinra had done to those living below in the slums. To them, Shinra was the hero - the one who provided them with electricity and jobs in the large city of Midgar. So of course they would be excited if Shinra were to call on her. And besides, her family, even if they lived on the upper plate, needed the money. If she did this she would have plenty to give to them for all that they had given to her.

A beep sounded across the room and she looked up just in time to see the door open to admit a young red-headed man who looked to be about her age. He looked at her with deep blue eyes and gave her a huge grin. Embarrassed, she looked down at the folded hands in her lap.

Reno gazed at the young woman. She was attractive enough. For some reason he hadn't expected her to look as she did. He hadn't even thought of taking a look at her picture in the file. She wore fitted white jeans and a light blue three-quarter sleeve shirt. A tan belt rested at an angle on her hips. It was simple, yet flattering on her, unlike what most girls he had been with liked to wear. Her hair cascaded around her shoulders in layered golden brown and her eyes were a pale blue-gray that looked cautiously and a little curiously up at him.

Reno suddenly realized he was staring and recovered quickly to notice that her eyes had done the same as his, and he naturally took advantage of the situation. With a sly grin he tilted his head towards her. "Like what you see?"

She jerked her head away and gazed down. She had always been shy around people she didn't know, and this red-headed hunk was no exception. Gah, and why was she even thinking about _that_? She was here for her foster family's sake and that was all.

Reno's grin disappeared and he scratched his head. Ah, so she's a shy one, huh? Well, she _is _his assignment after all. A smaller, gentler smile crossed his face. He'd just have to try a little harder to get her to talk to him. It wouldn't do any good if she was afraid of him.

He pulled up one of the chairs to sit across from her and leaned back casually. "So… you must be Sienna."

She only nodded slightly but didn't look up to meet his gaze.

Hmm… this might be a little harder than he had thought.

"Well hey, my name is Reno, and I'm the one who's going to be supervising you and whatnot."

She simply nodded again in concession.

Reno scrounged for a topic. "So… what do you do?"

Her sudden movement surprised him as she looked up to scrutinize him with her cloudy gaze. He didn't know? She noticed the file in his hand and her name plainly written on the top of it. If he didn't know, then maybe Shinra didn't… "Um… you don't know? But isn't that my file in your hand?"

Reno grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, sending his red locks flying. "Uhh… yeah. You see, I haven't quite read it yet. I only just got it a little while ago and…" A soft sound stopped him from his continued ramblings. He looked around for a second and soon he realized that it was her laugh that had interrupted him. It wasn't loud or mocking, but a teasing giggle. And it was infectious. Soon Reno was laughing as well.

After her giggles began to subside, Sienna covered her mouth to hide her smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh… you just… took me by surprise. I thought Turks were supposed to be much more serious. And you look so young." Her eyes twinkled questioningly as she looked at Reno. She had heard such awful things about the Turks… but this man seemed so… carefree. Not at all like the dreaded Turks she had been told of.

Reno flashed her a smile. "Why thank you, miss Sienna. We're actually the same age, as that was one of the things I had the chance to read in your file. And I must say that you are not too hard on the eyes yourself." He had expected her, like every other girl he had ever talked to, to melt at the cleverly inserted remark. Yet to his surprise, she seemed to grow quiet and uncomfortable with his candid compliment, so he quickly changed subjects. "Um, well, being a Turk was never really my dream job. And I'm sure Tseng wishes I were much more serious. But hey, I'm good at what I do, and that's all that counts, right?"

Sienna seemed unsure of herself, but answered anyway. "Yeah…"

"I am the youngest member, but not by much. Elena's maybe a year older… I'm not sure, and Rude's only a few years older than me. Same with Tseng, although he's been with the Turks the longest of us all." He shrugged and looked at the girl, who seemed to be listening intently. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to go on like that…"

Sienna shook her head, sending her hair tumbling around her shoulders. "No, no, don't worry about it!" A shy smile graced her lips. "I like to listen… it's always been easier for me than talking… I never usually know what to say… like right now…" A blush crossed her face as she looked a little down and to the side. "Gah, now I probably look like an idiot…"

Reno smiled and tilted her head to look at him. "Not at all." He gave her a wink with his crystal blue eyes and leaned back once again in his chair. "Now… would you like to tell me a little about yourself? I'm sure it'd be much more interesting than reading this file." With a quick flip of his wrist, he tossed the file on the top of his paper-littered desk.

She looked at him and gave a little smile. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she had thought. He seemed trustworthy enough, as far as Shinra employees went. "Um… do you even know _why _I'm here?"

Reno brought his hand to his chin as though he were thinking. "No, not really. Just that I'm supposed to watch out for you and stuff…"

After he finished speaking, he shrugged. Sienna took that as a cue to speak. "I'll tell you as much as they told me."

Nodding, Reno grinned, flashing his white teeth. "But first would you like to go somewhere more comfortable? I don't know about you, but I never really liked these chairs in here. They give me a terrible butt-ache."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Heidegger, Palmer, Scarlet, Reeve, and a few other heads to the various departments sat around the large table in the conference room. They waited, some patiently and some not so much, for their new President, the young Rufus, to show up from his meeting with the Turks. No one really knew what was on the young President's agenda, but many hoped it meant a pay raise for them and their respective departments.

Reeve fidgeted nervously with the pen and pad of paper set in front of him on the polished desk. Perhaps Rufus had decided that it was a good idea after all to rebuild Sector 7. Reeve was still appalled by the choice of his father, to leave the ruined Sector down as a visual threat. Maybe, just maybe, Rufus had decided to overturn the prior President's decision. At least he could hope so.

Emerging from the far door, Rufus swept his gaze over the group, not even bothering to hide his scorn. His father had chosen a bunch of fools for his cabinet members - greedy fools who didn't know their place.

He sat at the chair at the head of the table, pushing aside the papers in his way. He noticed Palmer bouncing up and down in his chair, eager to inquire about the space program. "Mr. President, sir! Mr. President!"

Rufus turned his sharp gaze on the rotund man. "What do you want?" he barked angrily.

Palmer seemed to shrink in his chair under the withering gaze. "T-th-the…" He swallowed hard. "I-is the Space Program getting any… any money? We r-really need it and…"

"No."

"Oh…um, bu-but…"

"No. And that's final." His icy voice stopped the man from stuttering out any more requests, as well as weaken the resolve of others who had thought of asking for similar favors. "Now on to business.

"There have been some small uprisings against Shinra and the usage of Mako in places such as Kalm and Junon, no doubt inspired by the terrorist group AVALANCHE. There are also reports of the growth of the Fort Condor military and their intentions to try and overthrow Shinra Inc., doubtless also linked to the same terrorist group. I have the Turks working on the capture of AVALANCHE as well as the pursuit of Sephiroth and the Promised Land. Meanwhile, however, to take care of these uprisings before they get out of hand, I have arranged to build and train a strong Chocobo Calvary that will be more useful than the Soldiers that are being trained and deployed now."

Heidegger leaned forward and furrowed his bushy eyebrows. "Chocobo Calvary? Gyahahahaha! Those giant birds are useless except for racing! How are you planning on doing this?" He slapped one of his huge hands onto the table for emphasis. This drained so much energy out of the portly man that he had to lean heavily on the other large hand to rest his head.

Rufus rubbed his temple in annoyance. "The breeder has knowledge of the eight breeds. These chocobos are not your average overgrown chickens. Besides, fear is the best way to make people follow you, is it not? The scrawny Soldiers of my father do not instill enough fear into the people to keep them submissive for long."

Leaning forward to expose what little her dress didn't cover, Scarlet spoke up, "Eight Breeds? What does that mean?"

"That knowledge would be of no use to you. You will see what I mean in due time."

Rising to his feet, he glanced around the room at the various faces. There were a few looks of dislike, more of approval, and the rest remained neutrally blank. "There will have to be a few cuts in each budget, but I'm sure you will all be able to manage the money allotted to you. That is your job, after all." The look he cast upon the onlookers was fit to kill. "Any more questions?"

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A few minutes later Reno and Sienna found themselves seated comfortably in the recently vacated Turk office lounge. Reno was sitting stretched out much like he had been earlier before his meeting with Rufus. He noticed, however, that Sienna didn't seem so much at ease. She acted calmly enough, but her rigid posture in the old worn-down chair and the way her arms crossed defensively across her stomach were easy enough signs for the Turk to read. She was still frightened out of her mind, even despite his best efforts to loosen her up.

He supposed she had a right to be frightened - it wasn't everyday that one was sent up into one of the higher offices of Shinra Inc., especially to the office of a Turk. He was sure what she had heard about Turks and the business they did was frightening - and sadly enough, probably quite accurate.

This time, Reno was determined to ease her fears, at least around this one Turk in particular.

He got up and stood next to her chair, resting his arm on the high back, and leaned down so that his head was practically next to hers. The bewildered look she gave him only served to make his grin grow. "Hey, you still don't look all that comfortable still. Would it be better if we went somewhere else to relax? Say... my apartment?"

A disgusted look crossed her face and she turned away.

Reno backed off with a laugh and plopped again on the couch, resting his head on his hands and stretching his long legs along the length of the sofa. "Kidding. Kidding." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Just trying to break the tension, ya know? I don't want you to be afraid of me. I won't bite." He opened one crystal blue eye and gazed sideways at her. "Too hard." And with that, he shut his eye and was content to just lay his head back on the armrest as he was. He looked just as comfortable as if he were lying in his own bed.

For a second Sienna didn't know what to do. She just sat and stared at him. He had surprised her, and not for the first time. She suddenly realized that his plan had worked - she felt more relaxed and comfortable, even in her slight confusion. How could he do that? No where else had she ever been put at ease so easily. So much that she tended to just avoid situations like this altogether. Right now she just felt like laughing out in nervous relief.

"Not that I'd blame you for being frightened. We Turks do have quite the reputation following us, don't we?"

He was back in a sitting position before she even realized he had spoken.

"Well, as long as Reno's around, you'll have nothing to worry about." He gave her a wink and patted the seat next to him on the couch. "Now come over here and tell me a little about yourself and why you're here. In a little while I have to go meet with Tseng, but he'll understand if I'm a little late: a pretty lady _always _comes first."

She was shocked, confused, and flattered all at the same time, but had enough control over herself to nod and take the few steps towards the sofa.

Reno grinned. "Good. Now remember: relax!" He leaned against the back of the worn sofa. "Now tell me a little about yourself, and why you're actually here."

She leaned back against the soft material of the sofa and tried to take Reno's advice. "O-okay… I'm a chocobo breeder and trainer, usually more often for those who want to race, but many of my chocobos are used for travel and the movement of goods by people who'd rather not use mako power or machines…"

"Chocobos, huh?" Reno brought one of his hands to his chin. He was genuinely interested in what the girl had to say. "You like those large, scrawny yellow birds?"

Her expression brightened at his interest, and she naturally began to truly feel comfortable. "Well…" A giggle escaped her lips before she could stop it, "The chocobos I breed aren't exactly the same 'scrawny yellow birds' that you'd find in the wild, or even at the farm in the grasslands outside of Midgar. There are eight distinct breeds, in fact, each one unique. Actually, that's why President Rufus hired me. Although I'm not exactly sure what he'd want with chocobos..." Or why she needed to meet with a Turk, for that matter.

Sienna placed her hands palm down at her sides on the sofa and looked shyly over at Reno, who seemed to be watching her intently, a thoughtful look on his face. "You don't say? I've never heard anything like that before." he replied with a laugh, "And the only chocobos I've ever seen were poor excuses for giant chickens."

"So you've never heard the story and history of Midgar's chocobos?"

"Can't say that I have." He looked up at the ceiling, creating patterns in his mind out of the dappled ceiling paint. Anything not to get lost in those questioning gray eyes. What was going on with him? Eyes never had such an effect on him before, and he'd seen plenty. "Shinra removed all information concerning the past of Midgar that didn't fit into the company's ideal. As far as the records go, Shinra's been here as long as Midgar has." He shrugged and dared to look back over at her. Her eyes seemed to reflect a little sadness at the information. "But I'd love to hear it from you if you're willing to tell." he amended, sending a grin her way.

For a second she couldn't help staring into his eyes. She felt that, if she had ever wanted to, she could read his soul from those sapphire orbs. Not that she had any intention of doing so, that is. "I'd love to…" she replied.

Suddenly she looked up at the wall as if realizing something, her smoky-blue eyes darting back and forth across the room, searching. Reno waved a hand in front of her face, bringing her attention back to him. "What is it?"

"What time is it?"

"Uh…" He glanced down at the watch on his wrist. "A little after 10..."

Without hesitation, Sienna stood. "I'm sorry, I have to go. My chocobos are supposed to arrive at the new stable at 10:30, and I wanted to be there when they arrived." She looked at him out of the corner or her eye. "You'll have to remind me to tell you the story some other time…"

Reno casually stood and nodded, "No problem at all. Need help finding the stables?"

She wanted to ask for his help, oh how she wanted to. But he had better things to do. Didn't he say he had a meeting with someone? "…No…thanks, I'll be alright." She gave him a weak smile and turned for the door. "Didn't you have to go meet someone?"

"Ah, yes, Tseng." Reno adjusted his dark blue jacket, giving Sienna a wink, "Duty calls."

Nodded awkwardly, Sienna turned to head off towards the stables when she felt his hand touch her shoulder. "Wait." Confused, she turned her head to see him digging something out of his pocket. Once he had succeeded in fishing out the crumpled piece of paper, he handed it to her. "It's my phone number and address… Just in case you need it."

And with another playful wink, he was off.

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Reno turned to find himself face to face with Tseng.

"Hey! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that..."

Tseng simply smirked. "It seems you've hit it off quite well with her."

Reno shrugged. "What can I say, I'm good with the ladies."

He heard a snort from Tseng.

"Well anyway, didn't you have some stuff you needed to tell me...? Hey! What's all this?"

Halfway through Reno's question, Tseng shoved a folder full of papers in the red-head's face. "Be sure to look over these. Rufus wants you to write down everything that seems important about the breeding and care of the chocobos. And don't forget to write your daily reports and hand them in."

Reno grabbed the folder and dropped it on the nearby table. "Fine, fine. I gotcha." He gave Tseng an interrogating look. "Tseng... What does Rufus _want_ with these birds? Are the ones Sienna has really all that special?"

The elder Turk's face remained steady. "He's planning on building a Chocobo Calvary-"

"Chocobo Calvary? For what!"

"That, you don't need to know as of now. Be sure not to tell the girl - we do not know if she'll take kindly to the idea." He turned to leave, "As for the chocobos' worth - I don't know. I suggest you go find out on your own." With a dismissive flick of his wrist, he turned and went into the hall, leaving Reno to chew on the new information.

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** A/N:** Chocobo Calvary? Sounds... fun... XD  
Oh, and I wasn't exactly sure what floor the Turks would have an office on, if any, so I fudged it and plopped them way at the top! As well as some other random stuff that I hope no one notices... Anyway, I have the next three chapters already written, but I want to see how this one goes before posting the next, as well and give myself some time to write the rest. So please, find it in your heart to review! D  



	2. Furi

Sienna arrived at the stables just in time to see two Soldiers trying unsuccessfully to goad a large red chocobo into the building.

The first Soldier tugged uselessly on the rope they had managed to loop around the bird's neck. "It's no use, sir. He won't budge."

The second Soldier, a taller man wearing the darker suit of higher rank, snatched the rope out of his subordinate's hand. "You've got to put a little force in it. Show the brute who's boss!" With an exaggerated grunt, he yanked at the chocobo's lead.

It didn't move.

The higher-ranked Soldier growled. "Stupid beast." Shoving the end of the rope back into the other Soldier's hand, he pulled his sword out of its sheath.

The younger Soldier looked at his superior in shock. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing! I'm gonna poke it with my sword. Maybe then the stupid beast will move!"

As if he understood the motives of the Soldier, the red chocobo whipped his head over and snapped at the man's hand, causing him to drop his sword. "Aw, sh-"

Sienna laughed at her chocobo's antics, but she couldn't take anymore of the Soldier's attitude. What if he actually decided to attack the bird with his weapon? She was sure her chocobo could defend well against the sword, but guns were a different story.

She took a few steps towards the trio, "Excuse me, sirs? You don't need-"

The higher-ranked Soldier turned in her direction. He was too busy gawking at her to hear the happy wark the chocobo gave. "Well, well, well… what do we have here?" He took off his mask and gave her a toothy grin. She wished he had left the mask on. "Don't worry, little missy. We'll take care of this beast. He won't be a problem to ya."

"No. You don't understa-"

He took a step closer to her, and his subordinate struggled to keep the large chocobo from attacking his superior. "Is there a problem, little missy? Don't worry; I won't let this big brute hurt you."

"No no, wait! I'm the owner of-"

He chuckled, unaware of the dangerous look the chocobo was giving him. "Owner, you say? A little missy like you couldn't possibly own a beast like this-"

"I'd advise you to listen to the lady."

The Soldier's face dropped and he immediately snapped to attention. "R-Reno, s-sir!"

The other Soldier had also snapped to attention, the rope laying forgotten at his feet.

The red chocobo, now free of his captors, gave a loud wark and ran over to Sienna, rubbing his soft-feathered head against her cheek.

In all of her frustration with the Soldier, Sienna hadn't even noticed the presence of the red-haired Turk behind her until he spoke. But right now she was happy enough just to be rid of the Soldiers and have her chocobo back.

Meanwhile, Reno was giving the two Soldiers orders, as well as getting the name of the ill-mannered Soldier for a suitable punishment. After dismissing them, he turned back towards Sienna and her red chocobo. He was stunned to see that there was actually such a bird as that one standing next to the girl he had met only that morning. It's feathers were a bold red - surprisingly similar to the shade of his own hair. And it was so _large_ - it towered over Sienna by a couple of feet when standing. At that moment in time it was sitting on the ground with its eyes closed, enjoying her gentle caresses as she removed the rope from around its neck.

Grinning, Reno took a step towards the pair. The chocobo's head snapped up and he stared at Reno with hard blue eyes. A warning wark escaped its beak when Reno took another step. "Whoa! Hey, I'm not gonna hurt her!" He looked imploringly at Sienna, "Can you tell him I mean no harm?"

Sienna giggled and turned the red bird's head towards her own. "It's okay, Furi, Reno's a friend." He gave a soft coo as she patted his head, but still gave Reno a glare as he stood. "Now let's get you inside with the others." She patted him towards the stable and he headed off ahead of her.

Turning to Reno, she grinned and beckoned him over to her. "Sorry, he's a little overprotective… like a big brother, really."

Reno stuck his hands in his pockets and followed after her into the stable. "So I've noticed." He looked up to see her examining the wide, wooden stables. "…What was his name? I thought I heard you say something like furry or fury…"

She looked over at him while running her hands over one of the sturdy wooden stable doors. "Uh, yeah, Furi. It's short for Furibrand. Like Fury Brand. My father named him." She resumed examining the door before opening it to let Furi in. Shutting and latching the door behind him, she gazed up and around the huge building. The wood looked fresh and solid. She was surprised Shinra was able to find so much good wood, especially since most of the natural resources around Midgar were a bit… frail. It must have looked a little out of place, a giant wooden stable on the outskirts of a city made almost entirely of metal. But having a wooden stable was one of Sienna's conditions for working - it was better for the chocobos' health. Plus it felt more like her own stable. "This place is amazing. They did a good job building it." She leaned comfortably on the door looking in on Furi, who at the time was preening his glossy ruby feathers.

"Shinra doesn't spare any expense when they want something done." Reno replied, coming up to stand slightly behind and beside Sienna. He looked at her thoughtful form out of the corner of his eyes. If only she'd stop looking so attractive this job might actually be a lot easier. Even her personality was alluring to him - she was quiet and shy, yet strong and devoted. Reno had always been one to not mix work and pleasure, but…

A loud snap in front of his face brought him back to reality. Reno's eyes widened to see the large orange beak of Furibrand mere centimeters away from his nose.

"Furi! Don't!" Sienna's hand reached in front of him to push the bird's head back.

"Whoa… he really doesn't like me, does he?" Reno stood up and scratched the back of his head. "I didn't mean to upset him or anything." He stood and looked at the bird, seeming to ponder something. "Hmm… maybe he doesn't like that I have the same hair - well, feathers in his case - and eye color." He grinned, "Some kind of dominancy thing or something." He finished with a shrug.

Sienna looked at Furi for a second, and then at Reno. He was right, they did have the same color, hair to feathers, and eyes. Almost exactly. She giggled at Reno's idea; she doubted that Furi gave a care about Reno's hair or eyes, but Reno certainly wouldn't know that. It was clever of him to think of it, though. It would have never even crossed her mind. She simply chalked the bird's actions up to over protectiveness.

Ruffling Furi's head feathers, she let out a laugh. "It would be pretty silly of him to dislike you for a reason like that." She winked at Reno. "Right, Furi? Now be nice to Reno. He won't bite."

The Turk laughed, remembering her expression from when he'd told her the same that morning. "Too hard." He once again walked back up to Sienna, despite Furi's warning glare. "I don't think he believes you." The words came out in chuckles. He directed his blue eyes, which were full of mirth, towards her. "Mind if I… test his limits a little? Just to see? That way I won't cross any limits he's set."

Sienna focused on him with her grayish eyes and withdrew her hand from Furi's head. "I don't know… he usually doesn't take too well to being tested." The chocobo snorted in resentment, which made the girl break out in a small laugh. She glanced back over her shoulders to the grinning red-head. "Well, I guess he seems up to it. Just be careful. Sometimes he can be awfully temperamental." She received another snort from the chocobo, which sent her into teasing giggles.

"Oh, I will. I'd rather not have him bite my hand off or something."

The comment caused the girl to smile. "I doubt he'd do that. He knows he'd get in trouble for pulling a stunt like that." Furi lowered his head and made a half-chirp, half-wark sound, then peered back up at Reno as if offering him a dare.

Reno certainly hoped so. "Okay, stand still then, Sienna." Reaching his hand out, he placed it softly on her shoulder, all the while watching for a reaction from both chocobo and girl. When none came, he ventured closer, stepping up behind Sienna and snaking one arm gently around her shoulder. He continued to openly watch Furi, but was acutely aware of Sienna's reactions as well. He didn't want to admit it, but this wasn't just to test the chocobo's boundaries. He wanted to see how far he could go before she was uncomfortable with him. Besides, he always enjoyed flirting with a girl, so he'd take any chance he could get.

Her shoulders tensed at the initial contact, but easily relaxed in the loose embrace. This was the type of contact that she wasn't used to. Normally she would just shy away from most manners of physical contact; aside from hugs from her family or caresses from her chocobos; this was the first time she'd actually had physical contact with anyone in a while. And it was comforting. But he was just testing Furi, she reassured herself. No big deal.

Furi watched, standing motionless, as Reno pulled his other arm up around Sienna's shoulders and moved his head to rest beside hers. Brilliant blue met brilliant blue as chocobo and human stared each other down. Seconds passed like eternity.

Sienna silently held her breath. A strange feeling bubbled up in the pit of her stomach, and she stubbornly chose to ignore it. It was _nothing_ and she refused to let herself think otherwise. _'Me and my stupid introversion.' _she thought bitterly to herself, _'why in the heck did I agree to this again? Oh, right, Furi.'_

Feeling confident in having no negative reactions from either Sienna or Furi, Reno decided to try one last test. Gently he turned his head to look at Sienna's face. He was mildly surprised to see that her eyes were closed and a light tint of red brushed her pale cheeks. He grinned, enjoying having such an effect. He glanced quickly over out of the corner of his eyes at the bird, then back at the girl.

Ever so lightly he leaned in and placed a kiss on her soft cheek.

And that's when Furi struck.

"Ow! Hey!" Reno released his grasp on Sienna and clutched his head where Furi had yanked on his wild red hair.

And sure enough, when Sienna opened her eyes, she noticed a few wisps of Reno's hair in Furi's large beak. The scene was so comical, she couldn't help but laugh. Plus it helped to hide the blush that had formed on her cheeks.

Reno rubbed his sore head. "Hey, why are you laughing! Your chocobo just ripped out a chunk of my hair!"

She turned to Reno, shaking with fits of light laughter. Her face was tinged a light red, although most of it was from her fits of giggles. "A chunk? I can't even see where it came out!" She walked over to him and peered up at his face. His expression caused the laughter to roll out again like muted thunder.

Reno stared at her incredulously. First she was afraid of him, and now she was _laughing_ at him? The sudden change was startling. He figured her laughter was partly caused by embarrassment at his forwardness, but he wouldn't let her know he thought that. No use embarrassing her any more. At least not yet.

A smile grazed his lips as he watched her sit down against the wall by a huge bag of greens, her body shaking with the remaining tumbles of amusement. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, her arms resting comfortable on top. He decided to go join her, once judging whether or not Furi could reach him. Thankfully it seemed he could not. Sitting down next to her, he stretched one leg out and pulled his other knee up to rest his arms and set his head down to gaze at her. The smile re-crossed his face. "I fail to find what's so funny. My head still hurts!"

His teasing complaints were greeted with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. It's just… the expression on your face was priceless! I warned you, you know." She cocked her head toward him, a pensive look crossing her features. "Does it really hurt that bad?"

Reno grinned and shrugged the best he could in the position he was in. The gesture reminded her of an awkward bird trying to fly. "It did. But it's not so bad now. Who knew a chocobo could be so vicious?"

She returned his comment with a smile, turning her gaze away to the opposite wall.

"So… would you mind telling me that Midgar story you mentioned earlier?"

She suddenly pulled herself into a standing position, wiping some barely visible dust off of her tan pants. Reno blinked. Tan? He hadn't even noticed that she was wearing anything different. As he looked he realized that she was wearing darker tan jeans that seemed a little worn out and stained and a plain black sleeveless shirt. He realized they must've been clothes she wore for working with the chocobos. Wow, was he a little off today.

Sienna unhitched the door and lead Furi out of the stall, glancing over at Reno apologetically. "I would… but I really should go check on the rest of the chocobos and bring Furi down there… I think the men who transported them put them in the other side of the barn…" Her eyes wandered around the huge barn again as Reno stood up. "I don't even know how many stables are in here…"

Reno, a little miffed that his fun had been spoiled, nodded in consent. "So… how many chocobos do you have?"

"Oh, um… 21. And three of Lilia's eggs. They should be hatching sometime in the next few days."

Reno's jaw dropped. "21? Just like this one?"

She laughed, "Oh, no, they're all different. Furi is pretty much the biggest one." The mentioned chocobo began to pull lightly at Sienna, dragging her down the aisle toward the center, where a door led to the next long room of stalls. She glanced over her shoulder at Reno. "I really should go tend to them… and then I need to finish unpacking stuff in the apartment Shinra set up for me…" She gave him a small smile, "You could come meet the chocobos if you would like…"

Reno felt a little sorry for putting her behind in her work. And he had his own work to do. So he decided that he'd stop by another time. "Ah, no, that's alright." He gave her a grin. "You've got work to do; I've got work to do. I'll be back, though. You still owe me a story."

She nodded. "Alright then. Don't forget."

Furi gave her a soft push with his head, motioning for her to stop talking and get going. As she turned, he looked back at the red-headed human and gave him a judicious look before continuing on.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Papers lay scattered across the wooden table, some spilling haphazardly onto the chairs and floor. A half filled cup of coffee rested snugly between a stack of paper and a pair of crossed arms that at the time were being used as a pillow. Red hair poked up from between the makeshift pillow, over the young man's dark glasses, which had slid down to almost cover his eyes, and his face. His long red ponytail hung limply over his shoulder to be mixed in with a few of the rogue pieces of paper on the table.

A loud rap on the door sent more papers flying along with the flurry of red hair.

Reno sat up, dazed, looking at the scattered remnants of what he had been reading. He reached up and scratched his head, realized the world seemed a little too dark, and promptly pushed the dark glasses back up his forehead in an effort to tame at least some of his hair.

Another knock on the door made him realize that in fact he hadn't dreamed the first one.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'…" He stood up, careful not to step on too many of the papers, and grabbed the mug of coffee, taking a swig. The taste was foul, and his facial expression reflected it. Tossing the mug into the sink, he headed towards the door, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

He opened the door, hoping to see a beautiful woman…

All he saw was Tseng.

Reno moaned, moving out of the doorway to allow the Turk entrance into his apartment. "What _time_ is it?"

"9 am." Tseng glanced around at the paper mess. "What _have_ you been doing in here, Reno?"

"I _was _reading all that crap you gave me yesterday. Then I evidently fell asleep." He shrugged as if it were nothing important. "So, what's up?"

"I came to get your report from yesterday. As well as that report on the last mission that as of yet you haven't handed in."

The younger Turk scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, forgot about that one. I'll get 'em." He walked over to the table, dug under a few stacks of paper, and pulled out two packets. He walked back over to Tseng and handed them to him.

Tseng regarded the half-asleep Reno critically. "Are you sure you didn't slip something extra into your coffee last night?"

"I might've… I can't remember."

Tseng took the reports and quickly glanced through them, raising his eyebrow at the shorter one. "This one's pretty short. I thought you'd have more after all that time you spent."

Reno simply shrugged and plopped down on the black sofa. "I didn't get to talk to her that much. Besides, I was just trying to get to know her first. We haven't really gotten down to talking about the chocobos much yet."

Tseng nodded. "I see. You may not want to get _too_ close to her, lest it interfere with your assignment." He turned towards the door. "Take note of everything she says, even if it doesn't seem important at the time. You never know what information she might be holding back." He turned the doorknob.

Reno rolled his eyes and gave him an unenthused thumbs up. "Gotcha, _boss_."

Tseng smirked as he began to leave, "Oh and Reno - take a shower. You look like a mess."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


	3. A Story

Sienna hummed as she finished feeding the last of the chocobos. She had gotten up bright and early to walk to the stable and get ready for the day only to find that the first of Lilia's eggs had hatched during the night. It was a healthy male chocobo with snowy white feathers, just like those of his mother. She promptly ran through a list of possible names, but the one that seemed to fit was Phantom. Both mother and baby agreed with a happy wark, and so the newest addition was named.

At present Phantom rested next to his mother in one of the larger stalls that was meant for chocobo interaction. In the following week he'd be moved to his own stall and then would be big enough to be trained for riding. Not that chocobos really needed much training when it came to riding, they were naturally adept at what they did. They usually just needed to learn a few of the basic calls and motions of their rider that would be used when dealing with humans. Still, it always depended on the rider themselves and the specific chocobo when it came to communicating. Nature did most of their training for them.

It always awed Sienna how fast a chocobo grew up, considering their long lifespans.

"Sienna…? Oh, hey! They're white!"

Sienna turned to see Reno approaching her from the back door. He looked the same as he had the day before, clad in his Turk uniform, grin and all. The dark outer jacket hung loosely off of him, the pale undershirt was, as usual, not tucked in and unbuttoned at the top to partially reveal his smooth chest. To avoid staring, she turned back towards the chocobos, mentally chiding herself. '_This is only a job. Only for my family. Stop looking at him like that!'_

Her inner battle caused her to hesitate and Reno came up beside her with an indecipherable look on his face. "Is something the matter?"

Sienna jumped and turned quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly. "No, no! Sorry, I was… thinking…" She blushed. "You surprised me, that's all. How'd you find me, anyway?"

He shrugged and leaned casually against the wall. "I have a knack for finding people. It's extremely useful when it comes to work." That reminded him of why he was here in the first place. He had a job to do, and that was to get some information out of her about those chocobos. "So, uh… care to tell me a bit about these chocobos of yours?"

Her eyes brightened. "Of course!" She eyed him mischievously and spoke in a teasing voice, "…Only if you'll help me after."

This seemed to be working out well for Reno. "Only if you'll tell me that story."

"I almost forgot all about that," she said. "It's a deal." She turned towards the two resting white chocobos. "Let's start here. This is Lilia and Phantom - he just hatched during the night."

Reno nodded. "Why are they white? Is it natural?"

Sienna laughed and beckoned him to follow her down the aisle. "Yeah, I'll tell you more later when I get to the story."

He followed her, a quizzical look on his face. "It has something to do with the story?"

"Yeah, well, kinda… It's hard to explain." She paused, "Ah…okay." She stopped, turning back towards Reno, then motioned towards one of the stalls. "You know Furi…that black one there is Obsidian. You saw how Furi can be fierce sometimes… Obsidian's like that almost all the time…"

She continued on, naming each chocobo as she passed them along with any particular traits that could help him identify them. Reno was surprised at the various colors and sizes of the birds. A tall green one named Glenn, a timid yellow one named Rune, a blue one she called Bandersnatch because of her mischievous tendencies, and even a small silver one, named Riku. There were a group of eight, one of each of the colors, that had strange names like Kepthair and Riellial, but Reno decided it was better not to ask.

The last one was a stern-looking black one. It seemed to be the oldest, judging from the graying and thinning of its feathers in different sections. There was a series of scars crisscrossing just above one of its dark eyes. Sienna gazed at it with a sad fondness. "And this is Hokuden." She stopped, as if thinking something over, "…I'm sorry," she said, turning to him with a sheepish smile, "that was a bunch of names and you probably don't really care all that much. It's just easier to deal with them if you know their names and-"

Reno's fingertips on her lips stopped her rambling. "Don't worry about it, I'm good with names." He winked, pulling his hand back and turning towards the older black chocobo. "Hokuden, huh. Sounds Wutaian."

"It is." She reached out and gently patted Hokuden on the head, ruffling feathers grizzled with age. "My father named him. He loved Wutai. Hokuden was his since he was little, before…" She couldn't continue. Images of her father's limp body lying over Hokuden's back still haunted her dreams.

Reno remembered reading something the night before about both of her biological parents having passed away. Her father in the war, and her mother in a fire. "I read in your file that he passed away in the Great War…" He placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder, turning her slightly so he could see her face. Moisture was gathering in her gray-blue eyes, threatening to spill down her face as she stared unblinkingly at nothing. Seeing the unshed tears in her eyes bothered Reno, although he didn't fully understand why - sympathy normally wasn't one of his strong points. No one ever gave a damn about him, and he generally returned the sentiment. "I'm sorry…"

She continued to stare unseeingly into the air, her mind's eye somewhere else. "He…Hokuden tried to save him, but it was… it was too late." Her eyes blinked suddenly as if for the first time, and she gazed at Reno, her face expressionless as she subconsciously tried to read his expression. She wanted to tell him the whole story; she wanted… she wanted to believe that he was trustworthy. She hadn't ever told anyone the entire thing - the real story about most of her past - not even her foster family. After all those years, she just wanted someone to confide in, a friend.

He returned the gaze with curious clear blue eyes and she almost broke down. But she couldn't. No, not to him. He was a Turk. Even if he was a good person, even if he was trustworthy… he still worked for Shinra. It was impossible.

Breaking the gaze, she turned away, determined not to let her regret show. Plastering a smile on her face and shielding her eyes, she turned her attention back up, startling Reno. "You promised you'd help me with my work today. _Then_ I'll tell you the story."

Reno blinked at the sudden change in her demeanor, but went along with it nonetheless. Over the next couple of hours they transported various sized bags of feed, greens, and hay; looked over each of the 22 chocobos for any health problems - well, Sienna looked and Reno watched, helping when he could; fed, watered, and watched the chocobos when they were all let out into the back field for a little exercise; and took a short trip into the nearby forest to look for some herbs Sienna said were good for keeping them healthy - there they ran into a few wild monsters, which Reno took care of easily and discovered that Sienna was quite talented with the small bow she had brought along; the whole time chatting to one another about this and that. It was hard work, but Reno found that he enjoyed it. Or perhaps it was the company he enjoyed. Whatever it was, Reno found that he was glad to have gotten this assignment over any of the other kidnapping and tracking jobs he'd ever been given.

They collapsed against one of the stable doors, laughing. "I suppose after all that work you helped me with, you do deserve to hear that story you wanted me to tell you."

Reno grinned, exhilarated from the race they had just finished from the forest to the barn. "That… and," he winked at her suggestively, "perhaps a little something else, if you get my drift."

Scowling cutely, she threw a few pieces of hay at him. "If you're talking about what I'm pretty sure you're talking about, then I'm thinking a big no."

"Not a big yes?" Reno gave her his best pout.

She laughed, showering him with more hay. "Not unless you're talking about chocobo crap - I've got plenty of that around here."

"Nope, I'm pretty sure that's not what I want."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to settle for a story, then."

Reno's mischievous pout turned into a grin as he shrugged. "Well, I had to try," he said lightly, "you'll have to give in sometime."

"You wish." She shifted to a more comfortable position, turning sideways and leaning against the smooth stable door so that she was facing Reno. Positioning her elbows on her folded legs, she plopped her chin in her upturned hands and proceeded to gaze at the young man in front of her.

Reno followed suit, mirroring her movements until they were locked in a silent staring contest. During that time, Sienna took the opportunity to look closely at his face, observing things she hadn't really noticed before, from his strong jaw, to the small rings in his ears, the wisps of bold red hair that dangled over the black goggles-like glasses on his forehead… even down to the scar-like tattoos that ran from his temples to under each of his sapphire eyes. All the things that came together to form the face of someone she had subconsciously began to consider as a friend.

Reno, on the other hand, had taken note of the way her eyes softened as she looked at him in consideration. But being the type who can't sit in complete silence for too long, which was the opposite of Sienna, who seemed to not mind the quiet, he decided it was high time to do something. And so he did. Leaning forward quickly, he was able to brush her lips with his before she pulled back in surprise.

"W-what are you doing?" She looked almost frightened; here she was just starting to consider him as a friend, and he was trying to kiss her? It kind of unnerved her a little. This was definitely something she wasn't used to. "Why do you keep doing that?"

Her tone wasn't angry, but it sounded confused and even a little anxious. Reno instantly felt sorry for frightening her with his forwardness. "I'm sorry… I couldn't resist…" His hand automatically went to the back of his neck as he grinned sheepishly. "I didn't mean to upset you…"

Her gaze turned questioning, as if trying to gauge his sincerity. After a few seconds it seemed he had passed. "Um, don't worry about it. I'm just not… used to anything like that. That's all."

"Really? And here I thought that you always had guys chasing after you."

"Actually... I really don't know any guys... ever since I was adopted I just kept to myself and took care of the chocobos."

"Well now you know me."

His grin was reassuring and she couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah…" She glanced over at a clock that was ticking serenely on one of the high stable walls. "Well, I've wasted enough of your 'story time' - what do you say we get down to business?"

Reno chuckled, pushing aside the thoughts that had unwittingly popped into his head. "Sounds good to me, but…" Jumping up to his feet, he gazed suspiciously around the large hall. Sienna gazed curiously at him. "I'll have to check and see if this place is bugged."

"Bugged? Like… with microphones or cameras?" Sienna said, suddenly nervous. She looked around the large room as if something was going to jump out.

Reno winked at her, "I don't _see_ anything, but… just in case, I'll give 'em a show they won't forget!" And he proceeded to make various gestures - some quite crude - in every which way, sticking his tongue out and saying several choice phrases as he went.

A light red tinged Sienna's cheeks as she watched and heard Reno's 'show'. Having lived on the Upper Plate with no real contact with people her own age, Sienna wasn't used to seeing such things. All in all, she had led quite a sheltered life since her foster family adopted her.

Reno plopped back down beside her and shrugged. "Nobody has come after me, so I think we're safe. Either that, or they're just used to me by now."

"Do you think… would they really bug this place?"

"I wouldn't put it past Shinra, but I don't think you have anything to worry about," he said with another one of his characteristic winks, "I was just messing with you."

Relieved and abashed at the same time, she narrowed her eyes teasingly, "Oh, I can't believe you…!"

"Don't you have something to tell me?"

"Oh, right…" she murmured, attempting to settle back into a comfortable position. "First I've got to see how much you know. What is the name of this continent?"

"This continent? Hmmm…" Reno's hand moved to his chin, "The only name I've ever heard is the Eastern Continent, although I'm sure Shinra would love to call it the Shinra Continent or something equally as dumb."

She chuckled, "I see… well I suppose nowadays they call it the Eastern Continent, but that isn't the real name. This continent," she swept her hands in an all-encompassing arc, "was originally named Gar."

"Gar? That's a strange name."

"Yeah, I dunno who came up with that name…" She shrugged, "Ever wonder where the name 'Midgar' came from? Midgar literally means 'Middle of Gar'; it was originally the name of this general central area of the continent. There was no huge city with 8 sectors, but 8 separate villages that resided in the Midgar area…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Over the next few hours, Sienna recounted the story of the Chocobos of Midgar to an attentive Reno.

She spoke of 8 separate villages, each one named after the original family that founded the village: Issigar, founded by the Issil family; Azugar, by the Azuma family; Miogar, by the Mione; Shamgar, by the Shamand; Talgar, by the Talgos; Kepthagar, by the Kepthair; Rielgar, by the Riellial; and Derigar, by the Deris. Each of these families, and later the villages, specialized in the breeding of a specific breed of chocobo; each breed was respectively named after the family which specialized in it.

Each breed was distinct in its own way, from color to ability.

The chocobos of the Issil breed were by far the largest of all. The great red birds possessed vast strength and were commonly used for transporting large loads (or even up to three adult people) because of the ease in which they could do so. Their beaks were tougher than any known substance and could crack through rock with little effort, but unlike their smaller yellow cousins, these red chocobos were rarely used for the mining of coal and other materials. This was because of their natural apprehension of closed-in spaces, which was attributed to their large size. Although faster than any human and many wild beast could move, these birds were the slowest amongst the eight breeds, and therefore were used less for quick travel and racing.

The people who originated from the Azuma family prided themselves in the water-crossing, blue feathered birds of their stock. When goods and people needed to be brought reliably over river, lake, or ocean shallows, people knew to turn to these birds. The average blue chocobo was quite quick on their broad feet, which were designed for easy water crossing, and relatively good-natured and easy to train, although there were the occasional exceptions. Most of the time, however, it was unwise to try and ride a blue chocobo over any land terrain other than flat grassland to small hills - they were relatively unstable on mild terrain because their large, smooth feet had insufficient grip. Many of the breed developed a fear of heights in reaction to this.

In the next town over, people were exceptionally talented at training chocobos of the Mione breed. Smallest of the chocobos (barely large enough to carry one adult, and many not even that), these quick birds sported beautiful silvery feathers. In general these silver chocobos were the fastest breed, but because of their size they couldn't be used for the transportation of people, except by carriage. They also had a tendency to become tired easily because of their quick speed. Yet as small as they were, they possessed enough strength to pull goodly amounts of materials over both land and sea, as they could travel on any terrain, including over the deepest of oceans. They came in quite useful, along with several of the other water-traversing breeds, during the times when goods were traded from Gar to the other continents, particularly far-off Wutai.

The people of Shamand were especially proud of their white chocobos because of their ability to fly. Only two breeds were known to generally carry that ability, but it was the whites that were used more with humans because of their inherent gentle nature. This also made them ideal for training, however the same gentle nature made them very susceptible when left in the wild. Almost at all times when in open areas must a white Shamand chocobo be accompanied by someone so that they do not become spooked, lost, or easily hunted down. These birds, too, could cross some mountainous terrain and shallow waters.

The most common breed that can be found in the wild across the planet today is the yellow Talgos chocobo, although wild ones tend to be weaker than those that are bred. In the past they were used widely for transportation of people that didn't require rough terrain or water because of their swift speed and high stamina. During those years mako wasn't used for power as it is at present, but coal was instead mined from deep caves in the mountains. The beaks of these chocobos were strong and their size ideal for useful assistance in the mines. When mako began to gain in use, both yellow and red chocobos were used at first to assist in digging down through to the substance before machines were introduced for the job.

The best chocobos for climbing mountains and other various terrain were the green chocobos bred by the Kepthair. They were racing favorites because of their long stride, high jumping ability, and easy handling of all terrain. As with most other breeds, these green-feathered birds carried both goods and people to other towns and areas, most notably to high mountain areas and deep mines. A downside, however, is that they are naturally afraid of water and avoid even the shallowest river if it cannot easily be jumped across.

The golden feathers of the chocobos bred by the Riellial line were often sold at high prices. The chocobos themselves also often came at a high price because of the difficultly to breed (the nuts and greens that needed to be used for each breed were usually quite abundant around Gar, but the specific nut used for gold chocobos became increasingly harder to find over the years) and their great usefulness. No terrain (land, sea or otherwise) was especially difficult for these birds, and most were able to travel for days at a time without so much as a rest. The Riellial chocobos continued to be heavy favorites for individual travelers because of their high stamina and versatility.

The chocobos of the eighth village were the hardest of all to train. Like their white cousins, the black Deris breed possessed a larger wingspan that gave them the ability of flight. Unlike the white ones, however, these ebony beauties were extremely fierce and hard to handle. Even those of the Deris bloodline had trouble with these birds if not handled correctly. It is said that it took years of practice to learn to properly train one of these birds. This made them unsuitable for human transport for the most part. However, a black chocobo can deliver goods anywhere and find its way back home very easily without the aid of a trainer, as they possess an innate sense of direction. Only a handful of humans have been able to successfully tame a good number of the birds for use in travel and recreation.

For years the eight villages of Midgar lived and trained these different breeds, using them for a multitude of purposes. It is said that these people of Midgar naturally had a knack for taking care of these chocobos. A knack that was much like that of the Cetra and their ability to speak with the Planet, or so the stories go. Some theories even go so far as to say they are ancestors of the Cetra - humankind that possessed a special connection with the lifestream and living things. Whether this is true or not has never been discovered - it is almost impossible for anyone to trace back far enough to reach these ancestors. Even if they could, there are doubts that such a connection exists today, or even did.

Nearly 200 years into the past, a large conflict broke out between different members of the eight villages. Nothing seemed to help resolve the problem until one man, who found a way to settle the differences between the families, decided it was beneficial to convert the eight villages into eight parts of one new city - called Midgar. He was chosen to help lead the blossoming city because of the favor he held in all the eyes of the people. His name was Ryen Issil - a direct descendant of the original Issil family who founded Issigar - and the eight communities flourished under his rule.

Ryen Issil, however, did not have any sons, but twin daughters, Callei and Celise. The time was coming for him to choose another successor to lead Midgar. Issil, however, favored both of his daughters equally and found it nearly impossible to choose. Both of his son-in-laws were also equally fit for the role of leader. One of his daughter's husband, a man by the name of Garin Shinra (he was descended distantly from the family of Deris, and like many of his family, was quite proud), suggested a team chocobo race between the two daughters and their spouses. The idea was set before the twins and the other son-in-law, whose name was Daen Alexiande (his mother's surname had been Shamand, descendant of the founders of Shamgar), and when planned and approved, was brought before the people for their decision. The idea was met with eager acceptance, as chocobos trials and races were quite popular among all the people of Midgar.

Now these chocobo races were not just the simple races on a track that are held today, but were designed with each breed in mind. There were various kinds, some specifically for those who could cross water and others for those birds that could fly. This race was naturally the most extravagantly designed that Midgar had ever seen and would ever see.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Shinra, huh? Who won?"

Reno's anxious expression was reward enough for Sienna's story-telling efforts. She smiled and gave her best motherly look. "If you'll listen a little longer, I'll tell you."

She shifted positions as Reno gave her a half-pout. In the background she could hear a few of the chocobos warking to one another in soft tones. "Okay, this race was quite complex and required the use of all eight breeds…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The crowd was huge on the day of the race that would decide the new leader of Midgar.

Celise and Callei stood side by side mounted each on a large red chocobo for the beginning leg of the race. A little ways up ahead stood Garin and Daen, waiting for their wives' to reach them so they could begin.

And with a loud shot, the race began.

Both Callei and Celise were matched in skill - living and practicing together for years made sure of that - and hit the first checkpoint within milliseconds of one another. At that point the two men began their race down towards the water shallows. Celise and Callei quickly switched chocobos and turned up the mountain path.

Callei had never been an aggressive racer - she much rathered taking care of the giant birds. This time, however, her heart drummed wildly in her chest from the excitement. She really didn't care if she was awarded the position of head of Midgar - her more outspoken sister would probably be suited better to it - but she wanted to win for Daen. He deserved the recognition after all he'd done for Midgar.

'_Besides,' _she thought, gazing over to her sister who was hunched over her emerald green mountain chocobo, _'That strange husband of Celise's has been coming up with weird ideas for using mako… I don't think Celise would ever dream of disagreeing with him, even if draining mako for power doesn't seem to be very good for the planet… I just want Midgar to stay the great city that father made it to be.' _She turned her head to look up ahead, spotting the tethered yellow birds up ahead. _'I can do this!'_

The race continued as the twins stopped their green mounts at the crest of the mountain next to the two yellow mounts. Their next task was to ride their Talgos chocobos down the next small trail and then have them break through the huge boulders in the path with their diamond-hard beaks. It wouldn't prove to be too hard, as both sisters had trained a few of the yellow chocobos on their own and had even gone down to visit the mines on a few occasions. Quickly clambering on the large birds, the two set to work.

Not far away the husbands of the twins raced quickly across the large expanse of water on their sapphire-feathered mounts. Their goal was the two golden birds that were resting lazily on the water a bit further ahead of them. Presently Garin was in the lead - he had much practice racing the blue chocobos with his younger brother, who favored the water-racers over all others. Daen, however, wasn't far behind. The two gold chocobos rose to their feet as the blue chocobos neared them on the small waves.

Nearby stood two smaller silver birds. Tied to each of them was a cloth bag that contained a box that held a key inside. The key was for the stables on the other side of the shore where their last mount - the large black Deris breed chocobos - were kept. The task at hand was for the two men to ride the gold chocobos in a race to catch the quicker silver birds and retrieve the key to their last mounts.

Daen took a quick glance back towards the high cliffs on the side where Callei and her sister were just reaching the white birds for the final lap of their half of the race. Once the girls reached the finish line, a point would be added to the score of the team of the sister who crossed first; the winner would be decided on which husband crossed and passed the key to their respective wife first.

Celise and Callei both lifted themselves up onto their snowy birds, gripping tightly to the straps as each stooped and spread their wings. With great force the white birds pushed forward into a strong sprint and kicked off into the air, catching an updraft under their massive wings, and finally settling - albeit a little roughly - into a glide.

The wind blew fiercely through both feathers and hair as they drifted over the crowds of onlookers. With each strong beat of her chocobo's immense wings, Callei began to feel a little faint. Flying was normally her favorite part of the racing, but for some reason she was beginning to feel dizzy. But, now that she thought about it, she _had_ been feeling a little sick lately…

The girl's chocobo noticed the lack of response he was getting from his rider, and slowed a little. Close by, Celise noticed her sister's sudden drop in speed, and looked just in time to see the girl drop unconscious upon the white chocobo's back. "Callei?" With great skill and a wildly beating heart she turned her own chocobo around to beside her sister's, ordering it to help stabilize and bring the other gently to the ground.

Below the crowed stirred loudly when the two white birds began to descend onto an open area. A frantic Celise jumped off her own chocobo to check on her sister.

The change in the crowd did not go unnoticed by Daen, who turned from his chase in time to see the two ivory-colored chocobos settle to the ground, a frantic Celise jumping off of her own mount, and he _knew_ something was wrong. Without a second thought, he changed direction, pushing the golden-feathered bird to go as fast as possible across the water. Within seconds he felt the familiar dull thud of running on land and it only fueled him to run faster. What if something has seriously gone wrong? If she were hurt, he'd never forgive himself…

The gold bird skidded to an abrupt stop beside his sister-in-law and Daen was beside his wife in a mater of seconds. Celise hovered worriedly hovered over his shoulder as he looked her over. She looked worried when he quickly glanced at her and spoke in a cracked voice, "What happened?"

Celise wrung her hands, "I don't know… She was fine, and the next thing I knew she had fainted… Is she… alright?"

He sighed and gently picked Callei up. "I think so. As far as I can tell, she only passed out, maybe because of over-exertion or something." He gazed at the girl in his arms with worry in his blue-gray eyes, "But we should probably bring her to the hospital just in case."

Celise full-heartedly agreed just as her father came running up, a sweat-covered Garin following behind. His gaze first fell on his one daughter in the young man's arms, then focused on his other. He looked weary beyond his age, "Is Callei… is she okay?"

Daen nodded and whistled his large gold chocobo over, first placing his wife and then jumping up himself, supporting her in his arms. "I'm going to bring her over to the hospital, just to make sure everything's alright."

Garin stepped forward, wiping his brow. "What about the race?"

Daen looked sharply at him, "What about it?" and without waiting for an answer, snapped his reins and took off in the direction of the hospital.

Celise gave her husband a warning glare as he expectantly looked towards his father-in-law for word on the race. Winning the race was the only way that he'd be able to get the support for his new ideas on how to use mako for the people, which made him anxious for the results.

Ryen signed and stared off at nothing in particular. The crowd had begun to disperse in whispers as the hired crowd control sent them off. No one in the entire continent of Gar would have thought that such a thing would happen, and, as Midgar had proved more and more frequently, word spread like wildfire across the villages. He had to settle it now or never. "I'm calling it off. From now on there won't be a single leader of Midgar, but a collection of people who can keep this city strong." He looked directly at Garin, who seemed to be contemplating what was said. "That is my decision." With that, he turned to his daughter, giving her his best smile. "Come on, Celise, let's go see your sister before Daen decides to not let anyone in."

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Reno blinked. "So… no one won?" He shifted his position - his butt was getting sore from the hard stable floor. "Then how come there's Shinra Electric Company, but there's no Alexiande around?"

"Callei was bedridden for a few weeks and diagnosed with something no one had ever seen before. A few years after her and Daen had a son, she died. Out of despair, Daen practically withdrew from the world with his son - he stopped helping with Midgar and let his sister and brother-in-law do all the work. When his father-in-law died, he moved away from Midgar to Kalm to get away from the memories. There he just raised and bred chocobos with his son."

"That's kinda sad. What about the others?"

"Mmm, yeah, it is sad…" She looked up toward the ceiling, as if searching for some invisible spot that perhaps held the answer to the story. "Celise and Garin's eldest son followed Garin's mako-usage ideas, and formed what we call mako reactors to use mako as an energy source." She shrugged, turning back towards the redhead. "And thus was created the Shinra Electric Company." She looked pensive for a moment. "Although it really wasn't an 'electric company'… More like a weapons company. Powerful weapons were developed using mako. Using the mako reactors for electricity wasn't really popular until more greedy people realized that it was a good moneymaker. The chocobo breeds kinda… died off after that because they weren't needed and really couldn't survive well in the growing metallic city."

A knowing smile spread across Reno's face. He leaned comfortably against the solid wooden door, hands behind his head, and long legs spread across the floor. "Heh. So that's how it was, huh? Definitely a bit different than the records kept in the Shinra building." He cracked one eye open and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Not that there are really any good records of Midgar in that library. I wonder why…?"

Sienna shrugged again, and her voice notably lowered as she spoke. "I dunno. That's just the story my parents told me before they died." She gave a small smile, "maybe that's just all it is - a story."

She jumped a little when she realized that Reno had sat straight up and was looking intently at her. He gave her a great smile when he caught her eye. "I doubt it. Sounds more credible than anything else I've ever heard." He stood up and offered his hand to help her up. "Especially after seeing all these chocobos of yours."

Gratefully accepting his hand, Sienna stood. She appreciated his thoughtfulness and sincerity. She really couldn't comprehend exactly why he could be so kind and thoughtful when he was supposed to be a Turk, but at that point she really didn't care to question it. He was just doing his job, and she would do hers as well. Telling him a little 'story' would be harmless, right?

Bringing the smile back to her face, she proceed to walk across the smooth wooden floor over to where the giant ruby Furi rested in his stall. She felt Reno's eyes on her as she turned to face him. Her voice betrayed a hint of amusement. "You haven't even seen what they _really _can do."

Reno eyed her suspiciously. "What exactly are you getting at?" Reno thought her tone sounded a little too mischievous for his liking. She just had to be planning _something_…

She laughed genuinely at his suspicion, dusting off her tan pants nonchalantly. "Have you actually ever ridden a chocobo?"

The question caught him by surprise and he had to stop and think a minute before answering, "Well, now that I think of it… not really. Maybe once or twice a long time ago." His hand reached the back of his neck in the familiar pose, and a sheepish grin crossed his face as he spoke. "I usually fly helicopters and things like that."

Sienna laughed; she had expected as much. People in Midgar didn't really get the chance to ride chocobos anymore - most of them hardly even left the city. The only things they rode in were the large trains that traveled throughout the whole city and those on the upper plate who had the luxury of cars drove those about. She swiftly turned and unhitched Furi's gate, leading him out. "Then I guess you're going to just have to learn."

Well, Reno was usually always up to anything, but at that point in time Furi was shooting him the worst death glare. If looks could kill, Reno would've been six feet under. Giving the huge red bird another look, he blanched. "Learn? To ride? _Him?" _His pointed unsurely at the vicious red bird.

Sienna found Reno's reaction absolutely priceless. Shaking her head, she patted Furi's soft shoulder feathers, as she really couldn't reach comfortably higher when he was standing. "No, no, heh, he'd probably throw you off just to spite you." She turned to look at the assembled rows of birds. "You probably should start by riding…" she paused contemplatively, "Hey, Rune, come out!"

Reno was slightly disappointed when he recognized the timid yellow chocobo. "A yellow one? Anyone can ride a yellow chocobo!" He gave her a pout that turned into a sly grin. "Besides, his yellow feathers kind of clash with my hair."

Sienna rolled her eyes and laughed. "You're ridiculous, you know that?"

Reno's grin only widened. "Yep."

"Okay then… Bandersnatch? No… she'd probably drop you in the water because she's a brat like that." She laughed at the image of Reno being dumped unceremoniously into the nearby ocean. "Okay, Rowan, then?" She looked questioningly at her companion. "His feathers match your eyes…"

Reno shrugged. "True. But… can't we just ride the same chocobo?"

Sienna shook her head and laughed, "Nice try. But you can't learn to ride if you're sitting behind me!"

He gave a small shrug, walking up to them and placing his hand on the blue bird's head. "Can't argue with that, I guess. Maybe someday Furi will let me get close enough to him to actually ride him."

Sienna winked as she grabbed some reins and other accessories for the chocobos. "Maybe."

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	4. A Little Walk on the Beach

**A/N:** This is a very short chapter because it's the remainder of what I have written so far. So updates probably won't come as frequently, but I'll definately get to writing more!

And thank you so much for the review! It seems like this story's not doing too bad, and as long as people are enjoying it, I'm happy. :D

So here's the fourth chapter - hope you like it!

* * *

They led the chocobos to the west of Midgar, to a wide grassy area close to the ocean. It didn't take too long for Reno to get the hang of riding the sapphire-feathered bird.

"I didn't realize this could be so much fun. I thought it'd be boring to ride a chocobo after piloting helicopters and stuff." Reno laughed as he pranced around Sienna and Furi with Rowan. The blue bird warked to emphasize his sentiment.

"You should try flying with one of them sometime, then. I'm sure it's probably a better experience than flying in one of those huge machines." She patted Furi ahead into a trot.

Reno urged Rowan to trot beside Furi as he gave the girl a questioning look. "Have you ever been in a helicopter?"

Sienna paled slightly at the thought. "…No… I'm not really a huge fan of them…"

"I should take you for a ride in the company chopper sometime." He winked and flashed his teeth in a grin. "I assure you I'm a good pilot."

She gave a weak smile, turning to look down at Furi's glossy red feathers. "I'm sure you are. I just… prefer chocobos over machinery…" She gently stroked the soft short feathers on Furi's neck. He turned his head to look at her with one giant blue eye and gave her a mellow wark.

Reno caught the quick interaction between rider and chocobo and felt his curiosity rise. He knew Sienna didn't fully trust him, and with good reason - he was a Turk after all. And, being a Turk, Reno was quite adept at reading underneath the underneath, or so Tseng had a habit of calling it. This girl - quiet, introverted, innocent yet cunning - was intriguing. There was a story behind her that was just begging to be told, and Reno was quite interested in learning that story.

Sienna stopped when she realized Reno had slowed down. Turning around on the grassy field, she brought Furi up beside Rowan and peered into Reno's face. She giggled as his pretty blue eyes stared unfocused towards the ocean, over which the sun was beginning to descend.

Her giggle brought Reno out of his thoughts, and he almost fell off his chocobo when he saw Sienna's face peering into his own. She laughed and nudged his shoulder with her hand, effectively shaking him. "You awake? I thought I lost you there…" She turned back to face the ocean. The golden rays reflected like a golden jewel off of the glassy waters. It wouldn't be long until the sun set. "Thinking of something deep? Or just admiring the view?"

True to his personality, Reno grinned and took control of the situation. Throwing a hand loosely on Sienna's head, which was surprisingly tough without stretching too much because of Furi's towering height, he gestured broadly with his other hand. His voice dripped with good humor, "I'd say…a little of both."

She laughed, pushing his hand away and brushing back her golden-brown locks. "Must've been something good, you were out there for a little bit. I don't think you would've even noticed if Rowan dropped you in the water." She shrugged her black clad shoulders and walked in a circle with Furi on the golden sand. "You didn't even notice that you're _on_ the water." Her voice rose to a mildly teasing note when Reno snapped his head around to look below him.

Sure enough, the large blue bird was floating comfortably in the calm waters. Reno's black boots sat mere inches from the gentle waves. "Wha-! Hey! When did… Wait-" He looked up suspiciously at Sienna, "You planned this, didn't you? He's not gonna drop me… is he?"

Sienna laughed a little guiltily, giving a shy smile. "Why? You can swim, can't you?"

Shock slowly registered on Reno's face. "Sienna! If I fall in, I'm getting out and dragging you in with me!"

Sienna almost fell off of Furi from laughing so hard, and Reno could swear that the red bird himself was laughing at his predicament. Putting a hand to her mouth, Sienna was barely able to suppress the laughter between her words. "I'm kidding! C'mon Rowan, we probably should get back before the sun sets, anyway."

The azure chocobo abruptly stood, almost knocking the Turk off with the force, and gave a loud, piercing wark. Reno could swear that his ride was laughing as well as he trotted gracefully over the waves to the shore.

Playfully poking Sienna, Reno smirked, "This means payback, you know that, right?"

She batted her eyes innocently. "Hmm? Payback? For what? I never actually did anything."

Reno gave a listless shrug. "Doesn't matter." He tilted his head in thought for a moment, then gracefully leapt down from his high seat on the deep blue creature. A small wind caught his hair as he leaned a little cautiously towards Sienna and Furi.

Sienna gave him a quizzical look, but followed suit as Furi bent low to give her easier access to the sandy ground. Reno idly kicked a small rock near his foot and smiled when he came eye to eye with her. "Hey… do you think… I could try to ride Furi? I really want to get him to like me."

Two graceful brown eyebrows rose in surprise. She looked from Reno to Furi, who hadn't moved from his crouched position, and back to Reno again. "Are you sure? I mean, I don't mind, but…" It was her turn to kick a stone and she looked shyly down to the ground. "I don't want you to get hurt. He can be kind of rough."

Reno gave her his best grin, as if it could wipe away all doubt. "Of course! I'll be able to ride him like a pro - you just wait!"

Sienna was touched by his enthusiasm. It would be an understatement to say that his interest surprised her. This was just a job of his, after all. There was no need for him to actually learn to ride the chocobos, not to mention Furi. True to what she had begun to learn of him: he never failed to surprise her with all that he said and did. Most of all she wondered why, but decided to leave the question for a later time. She had only just met him very recently and he hadn't given her any reason to question his motives in anything.

So with a small nod, she agreed.

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That night Reno went home with more than a few bruises, especially in his rear area.

"I think that damn bird gets a kick out of beating me up. I'll show him…" He sat roughly down on his couch, just to jump up almost as quickly from the sudden jolt of pain. "Damn bird…"

"What are you mumbling about this time? Every time I see you you're either complaining or trying to annoy the heck out of me."

Reno was so tired that he hadn't even noticed Elena standing next to his door. He gave her a brief wave of greeting, before returning to his previous thoughts. "Oh, it's nothing. I was trying to ride this monster of a chocobo that Sienna has, but for some reason he seems to enjoy tossing me to the ground." He looked up at her, "What're you doing here, anyway? Miss me?"

She snorted and kicked a bit of the mess on the floor out of her way. "Not in the slightest." A humored smile crossed her face. "Although… it'd be funny to see you trying to ride a chocobo - especially one that won't let you ride it. I thought I'd never see the day you'd try and ride one of those things. I thought you hated them."

Reno waved dismissively, "Nah, never hated 'em. Just never cared too much about them either way."

The blonde Turk pushed back a lock of her hair. "Why are you trying so hard now, then?"

"Because that damn bird ticks me off, that's why!" He stretched out on the black leather couch, tossing the navy Turk jacket into the nearby matching chair. He cocked his eyebrow at her and grinned a typical Reno grin. "Why the sudden interest in my life? A few days ago the only thing you'd say to me was 'shut up'."

Elena snorted, rolling her brown eyes. "It's not you or your life that I'm interested in. You just do… strange things. You kind of remind me of my brother." She stopped and pulled something out of her pocket. "Besides, I'm really only here to tell you that Tseng wanted to speak with you about something, and he instructed me to give you this." She said, handing him the small slip of paper that had Tseng's neat penmanship scrawled on it. "We tried calling you, but for some reason you weren't picking up your phone. Rude was gonna come, but then he was sent to speak with Reeve because AVALANCHE is getting close to the Golden Saucer - so I got stuck with the job of waiting for you."

Reno grinned. "Lucky you." He snatched the paper from her hand, which read _'Investigate WasP - meet me tomorrow 9 am'_, and scowled at the note. "WasP? What is it, another 'terrorist' group? And why didn't Tseng just come himself? That's what he normally does."

She shrugged, gazing around at Reno's rather messy apartment with a scowl. "He was busy investigating for the President and didn't have the time. I haven't even seen him today. I received a note on WasP a littler earlier - it stands for 'Wardens for Anti-Shinra Prosperity'… or something like that. They haven't really done much yet except for threatening a few of the higher-ups in the Shinra company. They're more of a cause of annoyance than anything else, I suppose. But Rufus wants to be rid of them. So I guess we're going to be sent to do the dirty work again." She sighed and pushed her hair back again, but almost messed it up when she suddenly remembered something and whipped her hand up in vivid expression. "Oh! And since it's been a while since your injury, you're going to be put back on the AVALANCHE search as well - Tseng has some plan for you and Rude, depending on what Reeve tells us in his reports from that stupid toy of his." Her grin was almost what you could consider smug. "Just thought I'd let you know."

Reno groaned and dropped back down on the couch, letting the small leaflet of paper drop down on the table nearby. First he had practically nothing to do, and now all this at once? Ah, the joys of being a Turk. "Okay, I got it. I probably should get ready for bed - it seems I'm gonna have a long week ahead of me…" He got up and waved his coworker unceremoniously out the door. She snorted and left as commanded, rolling her eyes at his dramatics. Yup, he was a lot like her brother - annoying _and _uncouth. She was beginning to feel bad for that Sienna girl, and she hadn't even met her yet.

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Reno sighed as he once again rode the elevator up to the top floor of the Shinra office building. The seventieth floor - being the floor that housed the President's main office as well as other minor offices – was both extravagant and dull. The huge center room contained the grand desk of the former President himself, furnished with only the best. Rufus had mainly decided to stick to his office off to the side; it, however, was by no means meagerly furnished either. Although the new President liked to keep more to himself, he took some of the many items his father had placed around his grand table and brought them into his own office, leaving the main room otherwise almost exactly as it had been before his father's murder.

On the other side of the wide room were the Turks' offices. The small metal plate beside the main door read _Public Maintenance and Order - Shinra Company Special Task Force - Turks _in pale gold over black. Reno always found it amusing that the Turks were considered to be under the department of Public Maintenance and Order yet they never took orders from Heidegger, who was the head of said department, but rather mostly from the President himself. And Reno found the logical connection between public peace and the Turks' work to be a stretch at the least. Getting rid of the company's dirty little secrets was barely what Reno found to be favorable to the public. It was strange how this company worked, indeed. But it _was_ a military company, after all.

Pulling out his company ID, which served as a key card for just about all of the rooms and floors in the building, Reno swiped it through the small card slot. It beeped in confirmation and the pale door slid open.

Tseng was already seated in one of the dark plush chairs. Reno gave him a pleasant nod as he settled comfortably on the pale couch. "Morning Tseng."

"Reno." Tseng simply nodded his greeting while reaching down to pick up a small folder.

The easygoing redhead look dismayed. "_More_ paperwork! What are you trying to do to me, Tseng?"

"Save it, Reno." The dark haired man leaned back in his chair with a blank expression on his face. "These are the latest reports on WasP's activity. I trust Elena informed you of WasP?" He said, pointing a critical eye upon his subordinate.

Reno waved off Tseng's wary look as he glanced down at the first page, which held some of the more recent occurrences. "Yeah, yeah. WasP - terrorist group, stands for 'We Are Stupid People' - another anti-Shinra group." He read a little further down the page, where he spotted something familiar. "Ahh… Mr. and Mrs. Mannen… aren't those… Sienna's adopted parents?"

Tseng thought for a second. "Yes, I believe you're right. They both work under the Trade Department for Shinra. WasP sent a few threats to their home in the past month, telling them to stop working for Shinra Inc. 'or else'. So far I don't think that anything else has happened to them - the threats appear empty." He shuffled through a set of his own papers. "Many other people on the Upper Plate who work for the company have gotten similar notices. Only a few have resulted in anything beside empty threats."

"So what happened with those?"

"Robbery and some destruction of property - not much else. It seems that WasP members search for and steal important documents from the homes of those Shinra employees. We aren't quite sure why, yet. Or if they're after anything specific." He looked 0ver at the younger Turk, who was listening intently as was his habit only when it was important information regarding their work. "Your job is just to keep an eye and ear out for any sign of them around the city."

Leaning back on the sofa, Reno gave a sigh. "Is that all?" He looked either relieved or disappointed, Tseng couldn't quite tell which.

Tseng settled with a measuring gaze at the young man. "Yes. You already have an assignment, as I'm sure you haven't forgotten." To this Reno gave a lazy nod. "And I've got something else for you to do."


	5. Quick Note

**Author's Note: ** Hey guys!! Sorry it's taking me so long to write more chapters... I have NOT given up on this story!! College life and all that... (yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses...) I may not have another chapter up extremely soon, but I'll try and find some time to write some up ASAP!! Thanks so much for all the reviews and hits!! And if you have any ideas/suggestions/comments, feel free to either leave a message or email me at siennaalexanderson yahoo . com (remove spaces)! 

I'll replace this note with the next chapter when I get it finished, so keep an eye out!

Oh, and for all of you celebrating - Happy Thanksgiving:D

--Sienna


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